Issued to the Bride One Sniper (Brides of Chance Creek Book 3)

by Cora Seton

  Four older sisters made for a harrowing existence, as far as Hunter could see. Jo needed a break. She needed space. She needed to be the master of her own destiny. This was her house. And even if he meant to share it with her, he knew he had to let her build it.

  As she worked down the length of the house, he cut boards and handed them to her, passed her screws, put a hand on the cladding to hold it in place while she drilled guide holes. Whatever it took to get the job done.

  “You’re quiet today,” she said finally.

  “Thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “You.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Not much to think about there.”

  “You’d be surprised.” He hadn’t meant it to sound lascivious, but somehow it did and he could see her exasperation. Jo boxed up her experiences, the way some people did. Romance was for romantic times. Work was work.

  “Cass seems to be talking to you again.” She returned to the job.

  “Amazingly.” Cass had been furious at first when she learned what Hunter had done, but then she’d simmered down and thanked him for telling the General she was pregnant.

  “I’ve been putting it off, and that’s ridiculous,” she’d said. “I want to heal this family. Having this baby is the first step.”

  Hunter hoped she was right. As much as all the women held a grudge against the General, Hunter thought they missed him, too. Someday the man would have to come home to his ranch. He’d have learned about his grandchild one way or the other.

  When his phone rang, he pulled it out absently but quickly accepted the call when he saw who it was.

  “Hey—where’ve you been?”

  “I don’t have time for that. I need money, Hunter.”

  “Money? For what?” It didn’t take any kind of hunch to know Marlon was in trouble. His voice was rough. He didn’t sound together. “Where are you?”

  “Look, you going to help or not? I can’t talk.”

  “How much?”

  Marlon named a sum that made Hunter whistle. “What do you need that for?”

  “I don’t have time.” Marlon cut through his words. “Stop fucking around and answer the question.”

  “What the hell are you on right now?” Marlon’s anger was palpable, and it had a reckless quality to it Hunter didn’t like. Had he been drinking? That wasn’t like Marlon. His friend prided himself on keeping his head on straight.

  “I’m not on anything. I’ve got pictures, Hunter. Photographs. Her with him.”

  “Him?” He knew Marlon was talking about May, and he could only guess where this was headed. He gripped the phone more tightly.

  “Yeah—him. The guy May’s shacked up with. No wonder she doesn’t want me coming by. She’s not leaving me because we’ve grown apart. She’s leaving me because she’s fucking someone else!”

  Hunter’s heart sank. Marlon was furious, and this wasn’t going to end well.

  “The asshole detective I hired knows exactly where this dude lives, but he wants more money. He says there’s more to tell me, but he won’t say what until I pay him.”

  “Jesus.” This wasn’t good. “Where are you?”

  “That doesn’t matter.”

  “Are you at Coronado?”

  When Marlon hesitated, Hunter swore. If he wasn’t—he had to be in Alabama.

  “Marlon, you need to get back to your team. This guy sounds like a total prick. He’s playing you.”

  “He’s not playing me. These photos are real!”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. But you’re AWOL again and you’re going to screw everything up—”

  “I’m already screwed. I need money. At least… send me enough to buy a plane ticket home.”

  Hunter stared at the phone. Marlon wasn’t making sense. “Use your credit card.”

  “He won’t take credit!”

  So this was about the investigator again, not about plane tickets.

  “He’s got pictures, Hunter. I need to know who this guy is.”

  Marlon’s voice cracked and Hunter winced again. He couldn’t let his friend get anywhere near May—or the man she was with. The investigator, whoever he was, sounded like a piece of work, and Hunter wondered if a guy like that was already working out how to extort money out of May and her boyfriend, too.

  “You need to get back to California. Now, Marlon.”

  “You’re supposed to be such a good friend. Isn’t that what you said when you were bossing me around? So give me the fucking cash!”

  He was slurring his words. Drunk. High. Something. Screwing up big time after Hunter had put his whole future on the line to buy him another chance.

  Hunter would do anything to shield Marlon. He would hop on a plane and go to sort things out. He’d get Marlon to a motel. Give him time to dry out. Fly with him back to Coronado. He knew how much Marlon valued his family. Knew how terrified he was of losing his kids. This wasn’t who his friend was.

  But he was blowing it.

  And there was no way Hunter would forward Marlon cash.

  “Hunter? Come on, man. Make up your damn mind.”

  Hunter heard the desperation in Marlon’s voice, but he held firm.

  “I’ll come and get you. Tell me where you are.” He’d be putting his own future on the line—again. Risking the General’s anger—and Jo’s. He couldn’t afford the expense right now, either, not when he’d promised to build Jo a house come spring. Couldn’t afford to put off building her temporary home for a single week with winter bearing down on them.

  “Just send the—”

  “No money. I’m coming to take you back to San Diego.”

  “Fuck you!”

  Marlon cut the call. Hunter leaned against the porch railing, gripping it hard enough he thought the wood would splinter in his hands. There was no other way he could have played that, he told himself. Marlon was a SEAL. Trained to kill. Out of his mind with rage and anguish at his wife’s betrayal. The last thing he needed was her boyfriend’s address.

  And he couldn’t keep Marlon’s secrets anymore, not when things had gone this far. It killed him to know how angry Marlon would be, but he didn’t think he had a choice. He made two more calls. One to Sue-Ann Frank. One to Marlon’s home phone number, just in case May was checking their messages. Someone had to stop Marlon.

  He was searching for a flight when his phone rang again a half hour later. It wasn’t a familiar number.

  “Powell here,” he said when he took the call.

  “Hunter?”

  “Yes.” The voice was familiar, but he didn’t place it at first.

  “It’s Abel Frank.”

  “Abel.” His gut tightened. Marlon’s oldest brother.

  “Mom told me what’s going on.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Why the hell did you wait so long to fill us in? We had no idea about the divorce—or about May stepping out on Marlon. Didn’t you think we should know?”

  “That was for him to decide.”

  “Yeah, right. The guy whose life was falling apart.” Abel’s voice rose. “And now he’s AWOL. What’s with you guys?”

  Hunter didn’t know how to answer that, either. It was bad enough he’d broken Marlon’s confidence. Abel swore.

  “It was Marlon the last time, too, wasn’t it? He made a run for it, and what—you followed him? Brought him back? What’d you do? Take the fall for him?”

  “Something like that,” Hunter admitted reluctantly.

  “Christ, what a mess. Hunter, I think I know where he lives—May’s boyfriend. And I’m afraid if I was able to find out that fast, Marlon will, too, pretty soon.”

  Hunter’s grip on the phone grew tighter. “How did you find him?”

  “I asked around. No one was going to tell Marlon, but someone spilled the beans to me. Wasn’t that hard to track him down once I had a name.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “That’s what I’m asking you. Marlon won’t listen to me, you know that.�
�

  Hunter did know it. Marlon still resented the way Abel had lorded over him the whole time they’d grown up. He’d see any interference from his brother as a reason to dig in deeper.

  “I don’t even know where he’s staying,” Abel went on. “You need to go get him. Take him back to base.”

  “Hunter? What’s wrong?” He turned and found Jo right behind him. “Is everything all right?” she asked.

  “It’s fine.” He raised a hand to warn her off. He needed a moment to figure this out. He had to get everything under control—

  But that’s what he always did, wasn’t it? Tried to control things, just like Jo had said.

  He was trying to control Marlon, and it wasn’t working for shit, was it? He’d handed Marlon a perfect way out of the mess he’d made for himself, but Marlon had gone and screwed up his second chance.

  Even if he did manage to find the man and get him back on base—if he somehow miraculously saved Marlon’s ass again—who was to say Marlon wouldn’t screw it all up a third time?

  Maybe he kept choosing this path because he needed to walk it.

  “Are you going to say no, Hunter, after everything my family has done for you?” Abel asked.

  Hunter closed his eyes, helpless against that line of attack. “Fine. I’ll go,” he growled.

  “I’m texting you May’s boyfriend’s address. If Marlon’s trying to find him, he’s got to be around here somewhere close. You know all his old haunts. Hunt him down. Get him back to California safe and sound. We’re counting on you.”

  Hunter cut the call and turned to face Jo.

  “What was that all about?”

  “Marlon. I need to go after him.” He was already figuring out the logistics.

  “Go after him? How long will you be gone?” Jo glanced at the tiny house and he knew why; fall was progressing. The rains would come soon and make it difficult to get anything done. His leaving now meant they might not be able to finish the house in time.

  “I really don’t know.”

  “You realize you’re going AWOL, too,” Jo said when she pulled into a parking space at the Chance Creek Regional Airport early that afternoon. Hunter had found tickets to Alabama, and they’d rushed to get him packed and ready to travel. They’d told the others it was a family emergency, which her sisters had accepted without question. Brian had eyed Hunter thoughtfully, though, and Jo wished Hunter had simply told him the truth. She understood why he was trying to keep the details to himself: he was protecting his friend as best he could. Trying to contain a situation that didn’t seem to Jo to be containable. Still, it bothered her he couldn’t say when he’d be back.

  In her experience, when someone left like that, they didn’t come back at all.

  Jo touched him briefly and was only partly reassured. There was that loyalty again, blazing strong. She felt deep worry, some of it directed at her. But a far deeper worry aimed at Marlon.

  She tried to pull herself together as she parked the truck. Hunter had a past. Friends. Family. She didn’t own him.

  Hunter pulled his bag from the backseat and grabbed the door handle. “I’m sorry I’m asking you to cover for me if your father calls.”

  “Of course I’ll cover for you.” Lying to the General was the thing she and her sisters did best. The General tried to control them from afar—what was the harm in thwarting him once in a while?

  “I’ll be back just as soon as I can.”

  Jo swallowed, hard. How many times had she heard that before? In the first months after her mother’s death, the General had pretended it was his job keeping him away. She remembered phone calls and video chats during which she’d begged him to come home before her sisters convinced her that showing weakness wasn’t the way to deal with their father. It had broken her heart that he’d never come home, but she’d learned over time not to show it.

  She hoped she wasn’t showing her disappointment now.

  “Jo, I don’t want to do this,” Hunter said.

  Then don’t. She didn’t say the words out loud, but she didn’t have to. Hunter’s face pinched with concern.

  “I’d much rather be with you.”

  Jo knew she was being unfair, but what was it about men that their other concerns always outweighed their love for you?

  Love.

  Hunter had been the one to bandy the word about first. Far too early to really mean it.

  “I’ve got to go; I can’t miss my flight.” He leaned in to kiss her, and Jo closed her eyes as his lips brushed her cheek. She couldn’t help the way she felt. This cut too close to the way men had treated her in the past. Hunter sighed. Glanced at his watch. “I’ll be back. Soon. I promise.”

  She nodded. She wanted to believe him, but as he climbed out and closed the door behind him, she wondered if she’d ever see him again. Was she being dramatic?

  Maybe.

  But who could blame her in the circumstances?

  Back at the ranch, she tried to lose herself in work, but later that afternoon, when Alice asked if she wanted to ride along to the fabric store in town, Jo jumped at the chance. Anything to stop brooding over Hunter. In the truck, Alice hummed as she drove, and it dawned on Jo she was excited about something.

  “What’s going on?” Jo asked.

  “Can you keep a secret?” Alice asked with a little bounce.

  “Of course.”

  “I got an email today. From a costumes manager working for a major movie producer. He’s got a project for me.”

  “What kind of project?”

  “A Civil War movie. A saga.” She took her eyes off the road briefly and met Jo’s gaze. “Hoopskirts!”

  Jo laugh despite herself. Hoopskirts were Alice’s passion. She knew Alice enjoyed all kinds of period costumes, but the ones she loved the most were the ones with the most complicated undergarments. She was happy as a clam creating the Regency-era corsets for the ladies at Westfield who ran a Jane Austen–style bed and breakfast, but they were nothing compared to hoopskirts in Alice’s eyes.

  “Too bad it isn’t a movie about the French Revolution,” Jo teased, knowing the extravagant dresses of that era would send Alice over the moon.

  “Stop it! Civil War gowns are just as good.” Alice drove on. “Okay, not quite as good, but who knows? This is a big commission. If I get it and I do a good job, almost anyone might hire me. This could be the start of something huge!”

  “You already get Hollywood commissions,” Jo said. Wasn’t that unbelievable enough? She didn’t know how her sister managed it without leaving the ranch. Alice was just as devoted as the rest of them to their mother’s property, and was as determined as they were to stay here. Only the quality of her costumes could force people to accept such a constrained arrangement.

  “But not like this. He’ll want dozens of costumes. Think of it; one of the scenes is a ball!”

  Jo could see why Alice was so excited. “Of course you’ll get it. What do you have to do?”

  “Three introductory costumes. He sent the specs this morning. I’m looking to see what I can find in town before I place an online order.”

  Jo realized she’d signed onto a longer trip into town than she’d expected. She’d planned a quick trip to the grocery store and maybe a coffee at Linda’s Diner while she waited for Alice to pick out her fabric. “I’ll stop and see Megan if she’s not too busy.”

  “Why don’t I drop you off there? I’ll want to hit the grocery store on our way back if you don’t mind.”

  “Perfect.”

  A minute later, Alice pulled in and parked.

  “There’s Megan now.” She pointed to the front door of the real estate office from which Megan had just emerged.

  “Come say hi,” Jo said and quickly got out of the truck.

  Alice joined her, and when Megan spotted them, she visibly brightened. “Hey, I’m off to get a cup of real coffee. Want to come?”

  “Sure.” Jo’s spirits lifted. She could tell Megan what had happened wi
th Hunter, and get her friend’s take on it all.

  “I’ll join you for a minute, but not long. I need to keep moving,” Alice said.

  Settled into a booth at Linda’s Diner fifteen minutes later, they had just been served their coffee when the door opened and Jo lifted her head to see a familiar man walk in.

  “Don’t look now, but that jerk is here,” she interrupted Alice, who was telling Megan an anecdote from their childhood. She nudged Megan, who glanced up, took in Mr. Ramsey and sighed.

  “I can’t find anything he likes, but that doesn’t stop him from coming around all the time. My boss probably told him where I was.”

  “He’s spotted us,” Alice said with a smile. “Too late to hide.”

  The man was making his way over to their table. Jo’s spirits sank again; now Megan would have to leave and they wouldn’t get a chance to talk.

  But Mr. Ramsey slid into the bench seat by Alice without even saying hello. Alice, stuck, made a face, but gamely shoved over and made room for him.

  “Paul, meet Alice and Jo. Paul Ramsey is a client of mine. Jo, you’ve met him before.”

  Jo knew Megan well enough to understand her friend felt trapped into making pleasantries. Her job was on the line.

  “I remember,” Jo said pointedly.

  Ramsey leaned forward. “What about your ranch? Is it for sale?” he asked abruptly.

  “No.” Jo didn’t offer any more of an explanation. She wasn’t going to play games with this man.

  “Sometimes people change their minds about that. Decide there are greener pastures somewhere else.”

  Jo couldn’t believe the guy, and she was about to tell him to go shove his observations where the sun didn’t shine when Megan said, “Alice? You all right?”

  Alice had gone rigid. Her eyes were closed.

  “Fire,” she said. “Horses. Your house.” She opened her eyes and stared at Jo. Turned to the man beside her. “Jail.”

  Jo went cold. So she’d been right; this man did plan to do them harm.